Homeless Couple Gets A Home On Christmas Eve, Thanks To Innovative ‘Occupy’ Group

[Mass]

Thanks for concrete actions that help people. More than we can hope from most people,

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/12/27/3104771/occupy-madison-homeless/

For many couples, the thought of living together in a 96-square-foot house sounds awful. But for Chris Derrick and Betty Ybarra, it’s a Christmas miracle.
That’s because Derrick and Ybarra have spent the better part of a year braving Madison, Wisconsin’s often-harsh climate without a roof over their head.
They’ll spend this Christmas in their own home, thanks to more than 50 volunteers with Occupy Madison, a local Wisconsin version of the original Occupy Wall Street group in New York. The group, including Derrick and Ybarra, spent the past year on an innovative and audacious plan to fight inequality in the state’s capital: build tiny homes for the homeless.
In a city where an average home for sale costs nearly $300,000, many low-income individuals simply can’t afford somewhere to live.
Indeed, in January of this year, a citywide count found 831 homeless people living in Madison, a 47 percent increase in the past 3 years. And it’s not just adults; 110 families with children were identified as well.
...
The “Tiny House Project” began the same month. The plan was for volunteers to build micro-homes that still include living necessities like a bed, insulation, and a toilet. The homes are heated via propane and include a pole-mounted solar panel to power the house’s light. The total cost: $3,000, paid for by private donations.

[johnnyreb]

1. k&r

May many more occupy shelter and dignity.

[Demeter]

2. This sounds like a winner

Starter houses, gives people an address, a roof, heating, plumbing, lights...a foot in the economy.

Gets people out of basements, boxes, and tents. Now just need to see that it isn't taxed out of affordability...

[mountain grammy]

3. "Occupy" is alive and well..

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Wait, think progress is chewing the memo

No good news and occupy.

[niyad]

5. for those who say occupy is dead, or has accomplished nothing, THIS:

Though a common critique of the Occupy movement was that its goals were nebulous and unspecific, it has effected a significant amount of change on a local level. This includes saving many people’s homes from foreclosure and buying up (and then forgiving) $15 million of consumer debt for pennies on the dollar.

[TBF]

8. Yes, even though I gave my overall

assessment below I want to repeat that Occupy is not the problem. They are buying homes, buying student loans, doing many innovative things as a grass-roots group to actually help folks who are suffering. They are doing a damned better job than Congress in my view.

[tblue]

6. Makes me teary.

What a beautiful sweet thing.

[TBF]

7. Honestly it kind of pisses me off -

not that Occupy did something to help because I think that is awesome.

But the fact that we are in the position where so many are homeless and hungry, and the best we've been able to do so far is tent cities and now maybe some closet-sized homes for folks so at the very least are not exposed to the elements.

Yet we let the financial sector run rampant, we bail out billionaire bankers, and we continue to approve huge corporate subsidies in the form of tax cuts etc as the companies continue to outsource all the jobs and more Americans fall through the cracks of the ever-shrinking safety nets.

It makes me very frustrated and angry.

[jwirr]

9. Envy like greed is a sin but I ENVY them that little house. I have always wanted on my daughters

yard. Now there are three yards I could choose from but no little house. This is indeed an answer for the housing shortage we have - the long lists for apartments etc. Occupy have gone from telling us about the problems to doing something about them. Too many of us from the 60s did not.

[SidDithers]

10. Awesome..

Occupy has found it's direction and is doing concrete good for people.



Sid

[Sissyk]

11. Shelter and feed the homeless.

What a concept.

We can bitch about polititians all we want not doing anything for the homeless. But those of us able to give our time and money is what will make a difference. It's making a difference in Nashville.

Just do it.

[pacalo]

12. Here's a video...

http://www.nbc15.com/home/headlines/Group-builds-tiny-homes-for-local-homeless-218449881.html

This is wonderful!

[El_Johns]

13. I don't understand the fascination with "tiny houses". It's 96 square feet. It's like living in a

bedroom with someone else. It's like living in a camper, except a "tiny house" is probably heavier and harder to move.

Nothing against what Occupy's doing, it's certainly better than nothing, but in the larger scheme of things it's ridiculous. Just house people, for god's sake. There's plenty of empty housing, much more than 48 sqft per person.